


nothing so wrong

by hunnypot



Category: iKON (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, i suppose its a Type of hurt/comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-20
Updated: 2018-03-20
Packaged: 2019-04-04 22:32:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14030247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hunnypot/pseuds/hunnypot
Summary: "you... love me?" hanbin's smile went from ear to ear. he looked so happy."of course i love you... dude," said bobby, a lot less certain than he had planned.





	nothing so wrong

**Author's Note:**

> this is for ela's birthday! happy birthday!!!!!! in response to "what am i gonna get for it.. a double b fluff fanfic?!" uh. yeah. here it is.

Bobby and Hanbin were best friends. They were always together, and they knew each other inside and out. They could easily communicate without words. Bobby commonly scheduled his days around being with Hanbin, and Hanbin always called Bobby if they happened to be apart for longer than a few days. Bobby thought of him and Hanbin as the ideal best friends, like the ones in cool sitcoms with meme accounts on social media always posting pictures of them with the caption “GOALS!!❤❤❤”

Although, there was one big difference between a sitcom best friendship and theirs. Or, honestly, any friendship versus Bobby’s with Hanbin. They only spent time together in one place: Hanbin’s apartment. 

Hanbin lived in a tiny one bedroom including a small kitchen, which he never used unless the microwave was involved, and an equally sized bathroom. It was all very dark. Dark-toned furniture, black and white photos of meaningless junk in black square frames on the wall, and basically no personalization anywhere. There was no light able to come in, either. The windows were blacked out.

When Bobby asked Hanbin about his windows, he was surprised to find out that Hanbin had spray painted them himself, to block out all sunlight from entering his home.

“But...Why?” Bobby had asked, a little nervous about Hanbin’s strange situation. “Why did you need to do that? Are you alright?”

Hanbin had laughed and clapped Bobby’s shoulder lightly in good spirit. Hanbin seemed to be fine… he was always happy and acted completely normally around Bobby. There was no way he could be secretly crazy or anything like that.

“I used the spray paint because I couldn’t afford curtains and I hate the glare of the sun making it impossible to see anything on a screen,” Hanbin said, still laughing and leaning heavily on Bobby now. “You should’ve seen your face, Kimbap! For a second it looked like you thought I was an ax murderer!”

Bobby had grumbled about how he did not, in fact, think that about Hanbin. And he never would. His grumbling about how he is perfectly smart and not stupid got quieter as he pulled Hanbin closer into his arms. Hanbin, smiling big at Bobby, tucked his head into Bobby’s shoulder. For the rest of the night, they sat together making quiet conversation and laughing softly to themselves on the couch. 

That was all they did, really. They found areas to sit or lie together in Hanbin’s dark apartment and slowly got closer until they were so close that they only needed to mutter to hear each other. Other times, they watched movies or played video games in Hanbin’s living room. Every once in a while, one of them would be really tired and they would take a nap together in Hanbin’s bedroom. But that was it. That was the short list of activities between Hanbin and Bobby in the apartment.

After a while, Bobby got tired of how dreary Hanbin’s place was. He texted Hanbin, asking if he could bring more decorations for his house, and immediately went to a random store to get anything with color after receiving confirmation that he could. 

Bobby burst into Hanbin’s apartment and started with the photos on the wall, tearing them down and replacing them with six different frames, each being a different color of the rainbow. In the frames, there were pictures of him and Hanbin, one of Hanbin and his sister, and another one of Hanbin with his family. Yes, Bobby realized that was an unfair proportion. But, he was the planner and he didn’t care.

Next, he moved to the bedroom. He took off Hanbin’s grey duvet from his bed and replaced it with a white one that had random splashes of color all over it. Bobby thought this was a favor to Hanbin because while it was a change from his previous cover, it wasn’t too drastic to handle. And it was soft. Which was the biggest priority. 

As Bobby ran around the house, hanging up decorations and changing out the dull with new bright items, Hanbin stood in the middle of it all and watched Bobby with a small smile on his face. When Bobby finished, he was sweating from running everywhere in desperation to get it done as soon as possible. He turned to see Hanbin, with a bigger smile, holding out his arms. Bobby walked into them and laid his head down on Hanbin’s chest. He put his hands on Hanbin’s waist and leaned all of his body weight onto him as Hanbin quietly complimented and thanked him, going over each of the items and commenting on how much they meant to him. Hanbin especially liked his new photos, specifying to Bobby that his favorites were the ones of them together. Bobby felt a content warmth flowing through his body, and he moved his arms to go around Hanbin as well. 

Bobby always felt this warmth in his body when he was with Hanbin. Bobby could be having a horrible day, then go to Hanbin’s and place himself in Hanbin’s arms. He would start out burrowed into Hanbin, with his face pressed into Hanbin’s chest, but Hanbin knew how to coax him out of his shell. Hanbin knew exactly what to say and how to make him laugh, so Bobby eventually ended up on Hanbin’s lap animatedly talking like usual. Bobby never stayed angry for long and every time he left Hanbin’s apartment in a much better mood. 

Most of the time, it was Hanbin instead of Bobby placing himself in Bobby’s arms. Hanbin liked to curl up near or on Bobby, put his hand under Bobby’s clothes, or do anything that involved touching him. Bobby was fine with it for the most part because he understood where Hanbin was coming from. 

Hanbin didn’t leave his apartment. He ordered food online and he worked from home, and that was his entire life. Between the eating and the working, he spent time with Bobby. Bobby was the only person, besides his family on rare occasions, that Hanbin ever saw. Sometimes he joked around, saying that he only had time for work and Bobby, and that he didn’t need to leave for either of those. This confused Bobby. Other times, Hanbin’s jokes were more playful and he joked that he needed to be always available to Bobby and that was why he never left. This made Bobby uncomfortable.

The truth was, Hanbin hadn’t left his apartment in a long time. Bobby didn’t know exactly how long, and he didn’t think Hanbin did either, but Bobby couldn’t clearly remember when he saw Hanbin somewhere that wasn’t his apartment. Still, this didn’t concern or scare Bobby. 

In Bobby’s mind, Hanbin was a normal guy. He acted completely fine, he had no weird habits or strange rituals, he was just a homebody. Bobby had many excuses and ways of twisting around the truth of Hanbin’s lifestyle into something completely normal. He didn’t want to be scared, or risk scaring Hanbin. It was how they continued to be absolute best friends. And Bobby didn’t want anything coming between that.

Bobby kept up with the excuses and kept normalizing Hanbin’s behavior until he walked into Hanbin’s bathroom one day. Bobby came into the bathroom to wash his hands, or wash his face, or do something else. He couldn’t quite remember after he looked at the bathroom mirror. The mirror was black. The once clear and reflective surface was now a black rectangle above the sink. Looking closer at it, Bobby could see that it was the same black as the windows, with the same spotty texture. Hanbin must have spray painted the mirror black too. As Bobby took a shaky step backward into the wall behind him, he felt scared for the first time. 

As Bobby stared at the mirror, he thought about what it could mean. It, most obviously, represented a serious problem. This meant something deeper: Hanbin was not a simple everyday homebody.

Bobby lost track of how long he stood against the bathroom wall, but realized it must have been a while when he heard Hanbin calling for him. He quickly shook himself awake and left the bathroom, making sure to firmly close the door behind him. 

He walked into the kitchen, where Hanbin was sitting on a stool and pouting at him. Bobby suddenly remembered- he was making ramen for them and he had gone to wash his hands.   
He couldn’t remember why it had to be in the bathroom and not the kitchen, but he couldn’t get a grasp on much at the moment. He mumbled out a “Sorry” and started boiling water. 

While he stirred the ramen in the pot, still tuning out the world around him and thinking about the mirror, Bobby felt Hanbin’s arms go around him from behind. Bobby stuttered in surprise, but the noise was drowned out by Hanbin’s content humming. Bobby could feel the hums vibrate through his body as Hanbin leaned his face farther into his shoulder. 

Bobby was scared for more than one reason. For Hanbin’s mental state, of course. That was the top priority. The lesser and more shameful fear was that, perhaps, Bobby served as the singular human being in Hanbin’s life. Instead of the close bond and friendship being the reason for Bobby’s closeness with Hanbin, maybe Hanbin was so touchy and clingy all the time because Bobby was the only person he had. 

Bobby needed to talk to Hanbin. He couldn’t at that moment, because Hanbin was all close and warm and cute and snug, but he would soon. He needed to plan it. Bobby ate his ramen quietly and remained distracted for the rest of the day with Hanbin. When he left the apartment, Bobby let out a soft sigh of relief and began to plan what he would say to Hanbin. 

It happened the next time they hung out. After meticulous drafts and some practice of what he was going to say, Bobby marched into Hanbin’s apartment and pointedly sat much farther away on the couch than he usually did, which meant that he was sitting a few feet away rather than sitting half in Hanbin’s lap. Bobby turned to face Hanbin with what he hoped was a serious face. 

Bobby had barely slept because he was so scared of messing up, Hanbin’s possible reactions, and the unknown future of their friendship. He was asking something so big, and so suddenly, and he hoped that he phrased it all okay. He just wanted to help Hanbin. He would do anything for Hanbin to be alright. So, Bobby was going to ask him to go outside.

As he cleared his throat, Hanbin realized this was a serious discussion. He mimicked Bobby’s movements, sitting up straight with a stern look on his face.

“Hanbin, I want you to know a few things,” Bobby began. “Firstly, I saw your bathroom mirror. And it scared me. Secondly, I care about you very much. Thirdly, I want you to go outside with me.”

Hanbin sat very still, with that stone-faced expression still unreadable. For the first time in a long time, Bobby didn’t know what he was thinking. Bobby decided to continue, since Hanbin didn’t look like he was going to interrupt any time soon. Bobby was happy with this, because he got to fully explain himself, but he was a little scared of Hanbin’s blank reaction.

“I don’t know what that blacked out mirror means, or why you did it, but it was a red flag to me as soon as I saw it. I need to…” Bobby struggled to say this part. He knew that their friendship would change after he said it. “I need to stop ignoring your lifestyle like it is normal. It is not. Doing that to the only reflective surface in your house, blacking out the only way of seeing yourself, I think that is a problem.” 

Bobby paused again, anxiously waiting to see if he crossed any lines or permanently ruined his friendship with Hanbin. As his thumbs nervously twiddled in his lap, Bobby stole a quick glance at Hanbin. His only change in facial expression was a slight tightening of his mouth. Bobby quickly looked away and took the silence as a sign to continue.

“Plus, the outdoors are beautiful! It’s spring, so it is the perfect weather, not too warm and not too cold. And we won’t even have to go outside, we can go to different indoor places! Like… a cafe! Or… or…” Bobby blanked on any other places. He had obviously been to other places besides a cafe, why couldn’t he think of one?! There are so many places in the world, how was he unable to think of just one?!? Bobby began to panic, convincing himself that this was a horrible choice and a horrible decision and that he was stupid not to research before he got to Hanbin’s apartment. How could he miss this one area to study up?

Bobby’s panic was interrupted by Hanbin. As he softly smiled, he suggested quietly, “Or a restaurant?”

Bobby frantically nodded. He began to ramble, nervousness and excitement for the unknown letting his brain-to-mouth filter disappear. 

“Yes! Like a restaurant and other things! Just anywhere I can be with you, really! We could go anywhere but here for once! Like my house, or where I work… you haven’t seen them… The trees in the park down the street change all the time, and it’s so exciting to see how uniquely beautiful they look every day. We could visit your family, and go see your sister in school or at her dance studio. We could do anything, and we could do it together…” Bobby looked directly at Hanbin and took up both of his hands. “I love you, man. Please, Bin. Please think about going outside. I am worried.”

Hanbin slowly moved closer, then moved one of his hands up to Bobby’s cheek and started to stroke it, which confused Bobby until he realized that Hanbin was wiping away his tears. Bobby looked down, embarrassed, but Hanbin moved his face back up and looked at him earnestly. 

“What did you say? At the end of that,” Hanbin muttered, the same way he did when they sat close together. Which is how they were now, to Bobby’s surprise. He had not noticed how close they had gotten.

“I said… ‘I love you… bro. Please think about going outside.. Because I am worried,’” said Bobby nervously. He felt like he had to hide something, but he didn’t know what.

Hanbin smiled shyly. He moved his hand from Bobby’s cheek to the back of his neck. He looked at Bobby with a small and cute smile on his face. 

“You…. love me?” Hanbin’s smile went from ear to ear. He looked so happy.

Bobby was surprised. Of course he loved Hanbin, he was confused as to why he was being asked. Of course he loved his best friend.

“Of course I love you… dude,” said Bobby, a lot less certain than he had planned. He still had a distinct feeling that he was trying to protect something, but he couldn’t put his finger on what it was. 

Hanbin looked at Bobby with that huge smile on his face and happiness in his eyes as he twisted the hairs at the back of Bobby’s neck. After a few moments, Hanbin put his hand down. He took his other hand out of Bobby’s. His expression changed to a more guarded and serious one. Not quite as guarded and serious as his expression at the start of their conversation, but definitely different from his previous happiness. 

“I agree with you, Bobby,” Hanbin started, looking down. “Isolating myself for so long probably wasn’t a good idea. I was just… scared. Of the outside. I realized how comfortable I was in here- I love my job, I love eating takeout every day without having to worry about awkward interactions with strangers, and I love… hanging out with you. I love being with you.” Hanbin paused as looking up at Bobby for a moment, embarrassed. “I think I started to go a little crazy in here though, and that I lost touch with reality. I was so scared of reality that I started running away from it. I was so content in the little world I created here that I wanted nothing else.”

Hanbin paused for a second to take a breath, then looked over at Bobby again. Bobby couldn’t believe what Hanbin admitted to, and that he already made a huge breakthrough with a single conversation. He gave Hanbin a small smile as a signal that it was alright to continue.

“The other day, I saw myself in the mirror. I was so thin and so pale and I had these huge dark circles under my eyes from the overnighter I had just pulled to make a deadline. I thought to myself- this is what you have done. You did this to yourself because you are too weak to handle reality. And you can clearly see how weak you have become.”

Hanbin looked disgusted and uncomfortable. As he told the story of what his own reflection had told him, Bobby looked Hanbin up and down. Now that he looked closer, he saw truth in Hanbin’s statements. Bobby could see how pale Hanbin had gotten, and how thin he was. 

“In a panic, I took my old spray paint bottle and blacked out the mirror. Just like I had with the windows,” he glanced over at Bobby with a guilty look on his face. Hanbin must have lied with the ‘makeshift curtains’ excuse, and the windows were probably another attempt to block out reality. “When I finished with the mirror, I felt safe again. I felt like nothing could ruin the illusion that I made for myself. Now, I realize that my illusion was never safe to begin with.”

Hanbin gulped, and looked at Bobby nervously. He was fidgeting with his hands on his jacket’s zipper. Bobby reached over and took his hand, so Hanbin would play with his fingers instead of his jacket. Then he nodded at Hanbin to continue. 

“I agree with you. I have been in here for too long, and I should go outside and face reality before anything else happens. I…” Hanbin was looking at anything else but Bobby in his apartment, his eye darting from object to object. “I don’t want it to become a dangerous problem. I need to do something.”

Bobby reached both of his hands around Hanbin and pulled him into a hug. As Hanbin began to slowly return the hug, Bobby said quietly, “You are strong for realizing that you need to change, Bin, and I am so proud.”

The next day, they took the first baby step to going outside. Bobby opened Hanbin’s front door and they stood together in the doorway. Or, Bobby stood in the open doorway while Hanbin stuck himself completely to the back of Bobby, arms looped around him and face shoved into his back. After a little while, he came out and stood behind him. Then, he stood next to him.

When they closed the door, Hanbin threw his arms around Bobby. After a moment, he leaned back to look at him. Their noses were almost touching. 

“I love you, Bobby.” Hanbin beamed. 

Bobby didn’t know what to say. He just knew that he was so happy and proud of Hanbin, and that he loved him as well. So he told him so, still attaching the ‘bro’ to the end for some reason that he still didn’t understand. Bobby felt….. wrong. For some reason.

Next, they set the goal of walking down the hallway outside Hanbin’s apartment. It went similarly to their first day, where Hanbin stuck himself to Bobby at first but after a while got farther and farther and eventually stood on his own. They paced down the hallway side by side,, hands brushing with every step. Bobby almost took Hanbin’s hand into his own, but stopped himself. Something was different, even if he didn’t know what it was. 

After about thirty minutes of pacing the hallway, Hanbin stopped abruptly.

“I think that I’m ready to… go down the street. Or something. I don’t know. I can see the outside and I kind of miss it,” he trailed off, looking to Bobby for some sort of input. Hanbin smiled. “Maybe we could… go to one of those amazing cafes you were raving about.”

Bobby nodded, surprised that Hanbin was ready for this so quickly. They walked down the stairs, with their damned stupid fingers still somehow touching. As Bobby mentally cursed the universe for this experience, they stepped outside. And Hanbin immediately grabbed Bobby’s hand. Which ended Bobby’s suffering, yes, but at the cost of a different type of suffering. He froze for a moment before he realized that he wasn’t supposed to be the scared one. Hanbin needed the help. Bobby moved closer to Hanbin, so that all of their arms up to their shoulders were touching, and Hanbin’s tight grip on Bobby’s hand loosened. Bobby leaned down and whispered into Hanbin’s ear.

“You okay?”

Hanbin nodded, squinting and blinking furiously to get adjusted to the sunlight. He was shaking slightly, Bobby could feel it from his arms. He nodded again when Bobby asked if it’s alright to walk, and they began the walk to the cafe a couple buildings over. Hanbin switched his hold on Bobby a total of three times on the short walk over: from Bobby’s hand to the crook of Bobby’s elbow, from his elbow to Bobby’s lower back, and from his back to holding Bobby’s hand again. 

They kept this closeness as they walked into the cafe, Hanbin holding onto Bobby’s wrist as he ordered two drinks. Bobby led Hanbin over to a table for two, with a booth on one end and a chair on the other, expecting Hanbin to sit in the chair across from him. Hanbin, of course, did not do that. Instead, he sat as close as physically possible to Bobby in the booth as they waited for their drinks. 

Hanbin continued to flipflop his grip on Bobby, but never let him go. He had a larger surface area available to him when they were sitting down, so Hanbin’s hands went up and down Bobby’s legs. At one point, they went way too far up and Bobby had to hold in a sound. Bobby didn’t have time to ponder what type of sound it would’ve been because Hanbin’s hand suddenly dove under his shirt. At this, Bobby looked over at Hanbin. 

“Are you okay, Bin? Can I do something to make this easier?”

‘Bin’ is usually what Bobby called Hanbin when he felt the warmest towards him. For some reason, only when Bobby wanted to be the gentlest did he call him ‘Bin.’ Hanbin looked up with a slightly terrified expression on his face, his hand still resting on Bobby’s bare back near his waistband. Bobby decided to take matters into his own hands and hope for success. 

“Look around us, Bin. There’s so many things happening, but it’s in such an organized manner. The world is chaotic, yet everyone makes it function so effortlessly. Look at that guy over there, next to the straws. His hair is so perfectly done, so sculpted to look like he woke up looking like that. Look at the baristas. They have so much to do, but they do it calm and collected. They’re so confident.” 

Before Bobby could continue, a barista walked over and gave them their drinks. 

“And they’re fast, too.” 

Hanbin’s face broke into a smile before he could stop himself, and he muffled his laughter into Bobby’s shirt. The rest of their cafe visit was spent with Hanbin’s fingers on Bobby’s inner thigh, rubbing tiny circles and other patterns into it, as he observed the cafe-goers curiously over his cup of coffee. Bobby switched from enjoying his drink and enjoying the lovely expressions on Hanbin’s face as he observed. Bobby also, very much to himself, thought that Hanbin looked a little beautiful in the lighting. 

As they walked back, Bobby realized that this quest of helping Hanbin was going to be a long journey. It would take Bobby a long time to show Hanbin that reality was better than any illusion he could create for himself. Not because it was more enjoyable or more fun, but because it was real. Bobby also noted that it would take even longer for Hanbin to realize this for himself. Bobby couldn’t force Hanbin to do anything- while he was an important friend and a companion during Hanbin’s journey, Hanbin would have to open his mind and accept it on his own.

The observation of how long personal growth would take for Hanbin became more apparent when they got back to his apartment. Hanbin immediately ran to his bed and threw the covers over his head. Bobby, thinking that Hanbin wanted some privacy after that experience, started walking to the living room. He was interrupted by Hanbin whining for him. 

Laughing, Bobby broke into a run and leapt onto Hanbin’s bed. He wiggled under the covers to join Hanbin in his little cocoon. As Hanbin smiled at him, Bobby realized that he was the only one that Hanbin ever let in. Into this blanket cocoon. Into his room. Into his home. Into himself. Thinking about it, Bobby realized that it was the same with him. Sure, he had other friends and close people in his life, but no one had ever been as close to his heart as Hanbin. Bobby would do anything for Hanbin, no matter what. Bobby truly and completely loved Hanbin.

As the gears moved into place, Bobby realized something. He wasn’t trying to protect or hide his true feelings anymore. From himself or from Hanbin. Bobby didn’t feel wrong anymore, he felt like everything finally came together. While Bobby had this realization, still staring lovingly at Hanbin, he was taken out of his thoughts. 

“Bobby… Kimbap… Are we going out on any other dates?” Hanbin questioned, smiling brightly and slightly hiding his face in the covers.

Bobby had another realization- almost too much for such a small span of time- Hanbin must have thought that was a date. He must have thought they were dating now… 

Bobby laughed, throwing his arm over Hanbin’s waist and getting closer to him slowly. 

“Oh of course we are! Now that you are out and about, we are going to hit up every fancy dinner joint this town has to offer… You’ll buy the most expensive lobster on the menu and I’ll buy the most expensive steak, and I will laugh at you while you eat a dressed up giant cockroach.”

Hanbin laughed quietly, probably trying not to encourage such stupid behavior from Bobby. He slowly moved closer, almost brushing noses with Bobby as he moved his mouth right next to Bobby’s ear. 

“At least I’m not a baby who is scared of expensive meats,” Hanbin muttered gently. 

Damn. Bobby really thought something nice and sweet was going to be said. And in that quiet voice too? Hanbin pulled a double betrayal. This is why Bobby hated lobster- this was what it did to loving and gentle… boyfriends. Bobby realized they must be boyfriends now… 

Before Bobby could get too warm inside, he had to deal with Hanbin’s brattiness. Bobby couldn’t get mad at Hanbin, he looked too open and happy in that moment to possibly do anything to change it. 

“We are going to go on many dates, each farther from here than the last,” Bobby smiled. “I love you, Hanbin.”

He felt the need to say it correctly that time, with no modifiers or pauses. As Hanbin sat opposite him, looking that happy, Bobby leaned forward and pecked him lightly on the lips. He started to lean back, but Hanbin moved one of his hands to the back of Bobby’s neck and pulled him forward to kiss him again. 

Bobby felt that familiar warm feeling buzzing through his body, the strongest it had ever been. He was grinning so much that he was holding in laughter, so he rocked forward into Hanbin’s neck and nosed himself into it. He felt his warm breath as he took deep breaths. 

It wasn’t anything new when Bobby wrapped his arms around Hanbin and tangled their legs together, and the warm feeling he had wasn’t different either. As he breathed into Hanbin’s neck, he felt rooted. He felt like everything had come into place.

**Author's Note:**

> title from ready player one: "there was nothing so wrong in the world that we couldn’t sort it out by the end of a single half-hour episode.”
> 
> if anyone wants me to explain how that is relevant or explain anything at all, feel free to ask !
> 
> happy birthday ela! again!


End file.
